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Thread started 06/25/16 7:33am

dalboy2

THE CAMILLE ALBUM - PRINCE'S FUNK MASTERPIECE

http://souljones.com/excl...ille-album

THE CAMILLE ALBUM - PRINCE'S FUNK MASTERPIECE

“My only competition is, well me, in the past ...”
— Prince - "Don't Play Me" (1997)

On September the 16th, just days after Prince had listened to the Bad demo; he was in the cellar of his purple and yellow painted crib located on Galpin Boulevard, Chanhassen, recording a new composition, using a title he had swiped from a forthcoming album by ex-Time guitarist Jesse Johnson.
“Best explained as Prince’s way of suggesting to a dear friend that every album with a great title should contain a song by the same name,” noted former tour manager Alan Leeds when the track was included on Prince’s The Hits/The B-Sides collection. It seems Prince initially recorded it to place on Jesse’s album, but when it was knocked back, swiftly leaked it to Detroit DJ The Electrifyin’ Mojo, specifically to wind up his former employee. According to the session’s engineer Susan Rogers, Prince believed gazumping Jesse’s project was “schoolboy evil.” That darker side of Prince, unveiling itself on Shockadelica, would officially introduce his new alter-ego, Camille. “The girl must be a witch,” he sings in an odd high pitched voice, like this Camille minx has got him by the nuts. A vocal effect achieved by slowing down the track, singing a lead vocal take in real time, and then speeding it up to its natural tempo (a technique he had toyed with ever since Let’s Go Crazy B-side Erotic City). Regardless of the motives, or mechanics of its creation, Shockadelica is a moment of unfettered slop purity. The guitars, heavy in parts, never overwhelm the Linn Drum sound – a groove so goddamn funky, he had to write a song about it.
[Edited 6/25/16 14:30pm]
[Edited 6/25/16 16:47pm]
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Reply #1 posted 06/25/16 8:21am

breakdown2k14

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Very awesome read.thanks for sharing .Always loved all the Camille songs.he or she is very talented . biggrin
There's Joy in repetition
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Reply #2 posted 06/25/16 9:29am

mtlfan

Great read, informative, love the test pressing art. What's your beef with "Scarlet Pussy," did she make you shoot your ego all over your sheets?

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Reply #3 posted 06/25/16 9:57am

terrig

this is all the awesome smile

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Reply #4 posted 06/25/16 10:32am

joyinrepetitio
n

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I've always favored The Camille Album over The Black Album as Prince's crowning funk achievement. The Camille Album is one nonstop funk barrage from beginning to end. I only wished this came out back in the day. Prince would have had a field day with the media with the androgynous character we know as Camille.

__________________________________________________
2 words falling between the drops and the moans of his condition
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Reply #5 posted 06/25/16 11:18am

paulludvig

Great album! Really cutting edge stuff. Even today in many ways.
The wooh is on the one!
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Reply #6 posted 06/25/16 4:10pm

Spanky

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What happened to the article? I wasn't finished reading it and it was edited down. Can someone org note it to me?
I wish u heaven
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Reply #7 posted 06/25/16 4:17pm

purplethunder3
121

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Spanky said:

What happened to the article? I wasn't finished reading it and it was edited down. Can someone org note it to me?

This is why we should be allowed to post the whole article. Now I don't get to read it at all. confused

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #8 posted 06/25/16 4:50pm

dalboy2

Spanky, Purplethunder I was asked by the org moderators to edit the article and just provide the link and a brief bit of the article.

The link to the article was modified by mistake when editing it down . It has bow been corrected so it now working again.

Apologies
[Edited 6/25/16 16:51pm]
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Reply #9 posted 06/25/16 4:52pm

purplethunder3
121

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dalboy2 said:

Spanky, Purplethunder I was asked by the org moderators to edit the article and just provide the link and a brief bit of the article. The link to the article was modified by mistake. It has been corrected so it know works again. Apologies

Thank you. wink

"Music gives a soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination and life to everything." --Plato

https://youtu.be/CVwv9LZMah0
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Reply #10 posted 06/25/16 7:01pm

SPYZFAN1

Great read! I want to thank you for posting the link. That site is amazing and the 2016 Lewis Taylor interview is FANTASTIC!!!!! Thanks again!

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Reply #11 posted 06/26/16 4:21pm

RogerRoger

What is the 'Camille album'?
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Reply #12 posted 06/26/16 5:02pm

Askani

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Had the Camille album been released, it might be his best, most solid work ever.

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Reply #13 posted 06/26/16 9:25pm

SoulAlive

RogerRoger said:

What is the 'Camille album'?

Camille is an unreleased album by Prince, recorded in 1986. The album was planned to consist of 8 tracks recorded by the singer in a funky, sped up vocal. The album was to be released under the name Camille (who would not be pictured on the cover) and not as a Prince album. The album was canceled weeks prior to its release and most of the tracks were incorporated into the unreleased album Crystal Ball, which evolved into Sign "☮" the Times. Most of the music has been released officially in some form or another, however, one song, "Rebirth of the Flesh" remains unreleased in its original form. In 2001, a live rehearsal of "Rebirth of the Flesh" recorded with the Sign "☮" the Times band was released on Prince's Web site. This version, however, had profanity edited from the lyrics.

Side one

  • "Rebirth of the Flesh": Prince recorded this song at Sunset Sound on October 28, 1986, on the same day as "Rockhard in a Funky Place". When the Camille album was shelved, the song was slated for inclusion on Prince's next album project, Crystal Ball. It was going to be the opening track segueing into "Play in the Sunshine". The NPG Music Club made a 1988 Lovesexy Tour rehearsal recording available in September 2001, marking the point at which all the Camille tracks have now been officially released in some form, although the original studio version only circulates on bootlegs.
  • "Housequake": released unedited on Sign "☮" the Times.
  • "Strange Relationship": Reworked from the Dream Factory sessions and released unedited on Sign "☮" the Times.
  • "Feel U Up": This outtake was recorded toward the end of 1981 and was taped in sequence with "Irresistible Bitch". Both songs were re-recorded later. "Feel U Up" was re-recorded in 1986 and the lyrics of both recordings are very similar. The track was finally released in 1989 as the B-side of "Partyman".

Side two

  • "Shockadelica": Originally written (unsolicited) by Prince in response to Jesse Johnson's then-forthcoming album titled Shockadelica(1986) because that album had no song to match/complement what Prince felt was such a great album title. "Shockadelica" was later included as a B-side of "If I Was Your Girlfriend".
  • "Good Love": Later released on the Bright Lights, Big City film soundtrack in 1988.
  • "If I Was Your Girlfriend": released with an added intro on Sign "☮" the Times.
  • "Rockhard in a Funky Place": Included on The Black Album (1987) project, which was ultimately released in 1994.
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Reply #14 posted 06/26/16 9:41pm

ufoclub

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I was just in LA to seeing a play, and freaked out when I saw the big compund with the Sunset Sound sign. Couldn't believe that I was near where all these legendary tracks were recorded.

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Reply #15 posted 06/27/16 3:08am

NouveauDance

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joyinrepetition said:

I've always favored The Camille Album over The Black Album as Prince's crowning funk achievement. The Camille Album is one nonstop funk barrage from beginning to end. I only wished this came out back in the day. Prince would have had a field day with the media with the androgynous character we know as Camille.

Agreed. I think it's one of his tightest albums (as in all killer, no filler) up there Dirty Mind and Purple Rain in that sense imo.

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Reply #16 posted 06/27/16 3:26am

Marrk

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I always wondered if it would have been the extended versions of Shockadelica and Feel U Up or shorter, edited versions on the final version of 'Camille'.

..

The album would have flew by fast with the shorter versions. I kind of like that. I did note that IIWYG would n't have had the later added intro.

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Reply #17 posted 06/27/16 7:17am

NouveauDance

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Marrk said:

I always wondered if it would have been the extended versions of Shockadelica and Feel U Up or shorter, edited versions on the final version of 'Camille'

Both full length.

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Reply #18 posted 06/27/16 8:21am

darkroman

Such an amazing album and set of songs.

.

This album proves yet again the importance of context and sequencing.

.

They work so perfectly well together.

.

It would be nice for one day the orginal configurations like this to be heard.

.

lol

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Reply #19 posted 06/27/16 7:19pm

WeepyEyedWhite
Girl

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SPYZFAN1 said:

Great read! I want to thank you for posting the link. That site is amazing and the 2016 Lewis Taylor interview is FANTASTIC!!!!! Thanks again!

YES! Great reading for days!!!

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